We build "Hard Working" web sites for Small Business

The challenge for you is not deciding whether you need a web site or not... YOU DO..

• The Internet is the second most commonly used medium after television.
• Australians are the third largest users of the Internet for Online buying, and that has been growing at 30% a year.
• 92% of people searching for something online do not search on brand names.. this means it easier for you to complete with big business.

The challenge is what sort of small web site do you need, and how do I make it an asset for my business. Ask most web development companies this question and they will say..

“It needs to be visually appealing web site , with a corporate look, following W3C standards, CSS, etc, etc”..

I laugh every time I read or here this type of discussion, the key success factors are very simple.


Your first small business web site MUST obey these 3 rules to ensure success:

1. Do not spend a lot of money:
   
   If your first attempt at a small business web site is costing thousands you are setting yourself up for failure; start small and incrementally improve.
   
   
   
2. Have something to say:
   
   The number of businesses I have been to that struggle to give me some content for their web sites is amazing; remember if your web developers do the job correclty more people will see your web site than your actual business premises.. Make sure you talk to these people when they visit.
   
   
   
3. No Flash... ABSOLUTELY NO FLASH:
   
   Potential Customers coming to your web site hate it, and search engines hate it.. that should be enough said.
   
   
   
4. Make your web site look like a small business web site:
   
   being a small business on the web is an asset; on the web people are looking for trust and service, not a brand name.
   
   
   

You will notice I haven’t spoken about anything technical, or anything graphical.. its because for small business the technical and graphical aspects pail into insignificance compared to the three cardinal rules above.

Oh.. one other thing, avoid any temptation you may have to engage in e-commerce, or put up a shopping cart. I know it sounds funny to say to small businesses don’t engage in on-line trading; the truth is a lot of money can be made in setting up an e-commerce web site if its done well. If you do not do it well it will damage your online reputation in a heart beat.

Let me give you an example:

A stranger looking for widgets finds your web site (because you sell widgets), the stranger has a look at what you offer and thinks “oh look this strange little business in a strange little land promises to send me a widget If I give them my credit card details and my home address… that sounds really appealing, I just might do that... NOT”. You will need to build trust with the stranger before they will buy from you.

Now all the scare mongering is finished lets get into the exciting part; you may not be planning to use us to build your small business web site, but we are happy to help out anyway.
Fill out the template below it will prompt you for all the questions a good web development team will be asking; it will speed up development which will save you money.

Click Here to download the Small Business Web Site Preparation check list.

Dont have a web developer yet? read our web developer skills article, then give us a call.